Who Is Andy Serkis Playing In Star Wars: The Force Awakens?

Cracking Snoke's identity...

By Alex Leadbeater /

The latest in a long line of carefully planned dripfeeds from the production of Star Wars: The Force Awakens hit yesterday care of StarWars.com (so you know it's legit) - the name of Andy Serkis' motion-captured character is Supreme Leader Snoke. The announcement came accompanied with a previously unseen photo from the Vanity Fair from the May The Fourth celebrations showing the mo-cap maestro getting into character. Those are the facts, but as this Star Wars Freakin' 7 that's just the start of the conversation - it's "SPECULATION TIME"! OK, so what do we know about Snoke? His title, Supreme Leader, feels instinctively evil and thus posits him as head of the First Order, leading Kylo Ren and Captain Phasma, something his grimace in the behind-the-scenes image and the growling line delivery of "There has been an awakening - have you felt it?" in the first teaser back up. But don't forget that the head of the Old Republic went by Supreme Chancellor, which isn't that different a title. Even with that caveat though, a villain feels more fitting (and surely the Resistance will be led by the Original Trilogy's trio). As for what the role actually entails, it's pretty clear Serkis has been hired on his pretty damn incredible skills in a mo-cap suit, meaning Snoke will end up getting pretty physical a la Gollum/Kong/Caesar/Haddock. And, given J.J. Abrams' perceived bent towards practical effects, that probably means this new villain/hero is going to look pretty freaky. So we know pretty much nothing. Come on December 18th! Who do you think Snoke is? Share your theories in the comments.